Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Pete McHugh served for twenty years on the Milpitas City Council. He was first elected to the Milpitas City Council in 1976, and became the first elected, not appointed, Mayor of Milpitas in 1978. Pete McHugh then served as Mayor and City Councilmember until his election to the Board of Supervisors in 1996. Pete McHugh served as a county supervisor for the third district which contains Alviso, Milpitas, Evergreen, the northern portion of Sunnyvale, the northern portion of San Jose and portions of East San Jose.